Sometimes It Rains
by AngelAnne
Summary: Battle-weary and tired, Wufei finally has a breakdown. When he loses the mask, who's going to help him move on?


Sometimes ItRains......  
WrittenBy:AngelAnne  


  
"DAMN!!"   
  
With that greeting, the door to Preventers Headquarters was slammed roughly shut, rocking the walls with the force. And with that slam came a bone-vibrating crash of thunder that sent chairs teetering and shaking and the morning's coffee cups toppling over on their sides, sending lukewarm coffee dripping onto the floor. A figure flung a set of keys toward the coffee table, missing by inches. The lamp went flying to the floor, the plug whipping out of the socket. It made a dull "THUD!" as it hit the carpet.  
  
Sally groaned, rolling onto her stomach. She'd been TRYING to get sleep for the last 20 minutes, waiting for Wufei to return from an exhausting mission that had left them ragged and exhausted. But she couldn't sleep on that tiny, ugly, horribly green Preventers' employee couch. Not while waiting for Wufei. She was here before he was. Not a good sign. And the storm wasn't helping any. Just added to her mood or anxiety.  
  
But when she heard the key in the lock on the door, she'd muttered to herself lazily, "Ah. Wufei-chan is home. And now I can get some sleep....." Her eyes lazily drifted shut....  
  
And that stupid habit of Wufei's cursing had ruined it all.  
  
"Wufei, did you REALLY need to slam that door?" groaned Sally again, propping her body up with her elbow to search the room for the little Chinese assassin. Promptly, her bruised elbow collapsed, leaving Sally to fall abruptly back onto her side, smacking her head on the couch's armrest.  
  
"K'so...." muttered Sally, "That was painful...."  
  
She suddenly realized that the whole room was silent. Not a sound, save for the raging storm and ticking of a wall clock. If it was that silent....where had Wufei gone?  
  
"Wufei?" questioned Sally. She lifted her body into a sitting position, (**slowly** this time), "Wufei? Where'd you go?"  
  
She rose to her feet, and walked quietly into the kitchen, assuming he'd gone straight for his beloved Chinese tea that was as strong as turpentine. There was nothing there, except a disgustingly high pile of dishes with food caked on them lying in the sink, waiting to be washed. And two pairs of Duo's pink Chibi-DeathScythe boxers draped unceremoniously on a kitchen chair. Sally's eyebrow twitched in exasperation, and she then turned on her heels and decided to move on, leaving the braided idiot's undergarments where they lay. She wouldn't've touched those boxers for any of Quatre's multibillion dollar houses. Not for ALL of them.  
  
As she emerged from the kitchen, she heard a noise. It wasn't the thunder and lightning and rain from the storm, still raging outside. And it wasn't any of the staff's computers, because the HQ had been closed for-Sally checked the clock-3 hours already. It was a person. It sounded like heavy breathing. And crying. Sobbing, actually. And it was starting to get louder.  
  
She ran to Wufei's office without a second thought, and rammed the wooden door open with her throbbing shoulder. It flew open to reveal the Shenlong pilot sitting in a plush chair, hanging his head in his hands.  
  
Sally automatically panicked. "What's wrong, Wufei?! WHAT HAPPENED?!"  
  
'Wufei doesn't cry,' she thought shakily. 'Ever. Not even when we were at war, or when the world was crashing around us. Good Lord, what happened to him today?!'  
  
Wufei had been startled by the slam of his office door, and his head flew up to meet the eyes of the figure at the door.  
  
"D-Don't you ever knock, S-Sally?", he said, voice cracking under emotion. His ebony eyes were dark, haunting even. They didn't seem real. Not real for Wufei, at least.  
  
Sally's eyes flew open to the size of saucers, startled by the set of syllables she'd just heard. "You...just called me Sally....", she whispered, one hand reaching up to rub a temple.  
  
Wufei didn't respond. He just turned his chair to face the window, pretending not to hear.  
  
"Something's wrong with you. And you're going to tell me what it is." There was no room in Sally's tone for any argument whatsoever. It wasn't a request, it was a demand. Her tone startled Wufei.   
  
"Nothing...." he whispered.   
  
"That's a lie," snapped Sally. "A blatant lie."  
  
He stood up to face her, leaning for support on the armchair. And that was the first time Sally had gotten a good look at Wufei all night. It had been dark in that warehouse, and she could only see a silhouette of his face. The sight she saw was jarring.   
  
His shirt and pants were torn, long strips ripped and missing. Parts of the exposed skin were cut and bleeding, leaving crimson trails down his shirt and pants. Across Wufei's cheek was a long red cut, and Sally assumed it had come from that one large thug with a dagger. The idiot had probably aimed for Wufei's throat and missed. There was a bleeding trail there as well, and just above it, Sally noticed a black eye. It had already started swelling up, and it was obviously hurting him. His left ankle looked twisted, and from experience, Sally could diagnose that he'd sprained it. He was also gripping his shoulder, and not only could Sally see a long gash across it, but it looked like he'd somehow dislocated it, probably leaping up to grab that overhead pipe to kick another oncoming thug.  
  
And there were two glistening streaks trickling down his cheeks, and they looked completely out of place on that stone-hard, stoic face of his.   
  
'I certainly got away cleaner than he did,' Sally whispered to herself. 'All I got was a pinched nerve, some cuts, and a black eye. Shit, what was he doing when he was fighting those thugs?!'  
  
She blinked hard quite a few times, and stumbled for something to say. "Wufei...I...."  
  
He flung himself back into the armchair, and slammed his fist onto his desk with increbible force. A resounding "CRACK!!" sounded, followed by the sight of creaking and splintering wood.  
  
"Why?!" he shouted, his voice cracking with emotion and rage. "After all of that hard work we put it, protecting everyone from this senseless war, why do they still fight?! Do they think their cause is that just, that worthy, that they'll risk innocent lives to get a point across?!"  
  
Tears started pouring down his face, and his tone changed from rage to bitterness. "When you stop and think, we're...we're almost as horrible as they are. Destroying colonies, sending towns and homes and people into oblivion. And for what? Our cause. Our 'right' and 'just' cause."  
  
He stood up, and limped slowly and carefully toward the window facing the city. He placed a bleeding hand on it.  
  
"All this time, I thought we were doing something right. But we're not better than those damn terrorists. Not one damn bit."  
  
Sally was getting worried, and she put a hand up. "Stop, Wufei! Stop!"  
  
He wasn't listening. He smacked his head on the window. "They fight to kill, and we fight to save. But what do we end up doing? We kill anyway. God, why did I get involved in this damn war anyway? Things will never change! No matter how hard we try!"  
  
"No, Wufei! That's not true!" she cried. "We can make a difference! We can!"  
  
He turned around to face Sally again, and his voice became incredibly quiet. "Don't you see, Sally? This is all pointless! While people have power, when some people rule and some people don't, this war will never end! It makes us useless! No one will ever change! Not even me!"  
  
Sally felt her eyes watering, and she quickly wiped away impending tears with the back of her jacket sleeve.   
  
Wufei shook his head angrily. "There's no use in hiding tears, Sally. We're all broken now. All of us."  
  
He ran one hand down his face, starting at his black eye, tracing the trail the tears had left all the way down to his chin.  
  
"You see? Even I'm crying now. Me. The one always snapping about 'weak women' and 'injustice'. But it was I who was weak, not you. I was the one who wouldn't let myself cry. I had to be hard, like Heero. But even Heero cries. I've seen him, herd him late at night when he thinks we're all asleep! And I couldn't bear to let myself do that! I couldn't let out my pain in front of you! I knew you'd think less of me! I'm a soldier, dammit! I'm not supposed to show pain!"  
  
He slumped back onto the window, and shut his eyes. And another set of salty silver tears came pouring out as an incredible clap of thunder and crack of lightning came crashing down. The rain was pouring now, beating so hard on the roof it sounded like the pounding of drums.  
  
Sally was crying now, too. All this time, Wufei had been cold and harsh to hide himself from other people. From her. He hadn't wanted her to see his insecurities, because he was sure she didn't have any. Boy, was he wrong there.  
  
She couldn't take it anymore. Enough of this damn self-abuse. This wasn't the Wufei she wanted to see.  
  
"Wufei!" she sobbed, and ran toward him. With all of the strength she could muster, she embraced him, squeezing so hard she thought she might crush him.  
  
"I never thought you felt that way!" she sobbed again, squeezing her eyes shut. "I just thought the chauvanism and stoicness was the way you were! The way you'd been brought up!"  
  
She stopped hugging him, and put her hands gently on his shoulders.  
  
"Look at me," she demanded. His eyes stayed closed. "Open your eyes and look at me, Chang Wufei."   
  
Wufei's dark eyes opened, and they started weakly into Sally's deep blue eyes. His eyes were sparkling with unshed tears, and it took all of Sally's strength not to sob out loud.  
  
"You can't think just because you're a soldier, you can't show emotion," she said, choking on unshed tears. "Wufei, you're human. Just like the rest of us. Just like Duo, and Trowa, and Quatre, and Heero, and Lady Une. All of us."  
  
Wufei looked down to his shoes. "No, I'm not..."  
  
Sally wanted to slap him across his face, but with a long bleeding cut down one side of his face, and a black eye on the other, she couldn't. Instead, she moved in closer again, and slipped one of her hands under his chin. She tilted Wufei's head to where they were both at the same angle.  
  
"Yes, you are...."   
  
And she tilted her head down to his, and her mouth was on his, and their lips met....  
  
Wufei's hand instinctively reached up, and cradled the back of Sally's head in her palm as she wrapped her arm around his chest and around to his back. There was warmth in the kiss, and it was welcomed openly by Wufei. He clenched onto her arm, to pull her closer.   
  
Moments passed, and the pair were still kissing. They didn't know how long they'd been there, with her arm around his middle and her head on Finally, realizing she was going to suffocate if she didn't breath, she pulled her mouth away slowly.  
  
"You're more human than I thought you were," Sally said slyly, taking deep breaths. "You know how to kiss."  
  
A tiny blush creeped up onto Wufei's face, and he chuckled lightly. Sally put her arm around Wufei's shoulder, and he returned the gesture. He pulled her close to him, and she rested her head onto his shoulder. They both stared out at the city lights, the cars and sparkling stars and lights in the office buildings. The storm had quieted a little, and the rain made a rumbling rat-a-tat-tat rat-a-tat-tat on the roof of Headquarters.  
  
"There's a saying I heard once," said Sally quietly. "I don't know who said it, but it goes something like this."  
  
She looked down at Wufei, and he looked up at her, smiling. No quirky annoying-as-Hell grin, but a sincere, charismatic, beautiful smile.  
  
"'Sometimes it rains on the just. I believe that. And sometimes it rains on the unjust. I believe that, too. Neither God or Justice has anything to do with it.'"  
  
Sally squeezed his shoulder, which was greeted with a tiny little groan and an "Itai!"  
  
Sally jumped back frantically, whipping her arms off of Wufei. "Ohmygawd!! I forgot!! I need to get the First Aid kit! I've gotta treat your injuries!"  
  
She smacked her forehead. "Good Lord, I'm a doctor, and I didn't think of that until right now. I'm a total idiot."  
  
Wufei chuckled lightly again. "Well, not a total idiot."  
  
Sally's face turned seven shades of crimson. "Why you arrogant little....If I wasn't going to fix all of your damn injuries, I'd chase you all around this building until you apologized."  
  
She turned on her heels, and walked out of the room. Even though her back was turned, Wufei knew she was grinning.  
  
"Sally-baka, wait up. I'll help you look for that stupid First Aid kit!" he shouted, stalking after her. "Which I really don't NEED, since I AM a perfect soldier!"  
  
Sally came out of her office, smiling. She started waving the First Aid kit in Wufei's face.  
  
"Either you're gonna look like a stunt accident gone wrong, or I'm going to bandage you up. Two options," she said, biting back a laugh.  
  
"Well, in that case," said Wufei slyly, putting a finger to his chin and pretending to contemplate.   
  
There was a little pause.   
  
"Get over here, Dr. Po, I haven't got all night!" he shouted playfully.  
  
And they both smiled. Wufei plopped onto the employee couch.  
  
"You know, if you smile like that too often, you're gonna scare Duo out of his Chibi-Shinigami boxers!" she giggled, slowly putting Wufei's shoulder back in place.  
  
Wufei raised a sly eyebrow. "And how do you know he has Chibi-Shinigami boxers, Ms. Po?"  
  
Sally shook her head disgustedly. "He left a pair or two in the kitchen. Like I really needed to see them."  
  
With his arm carefully back in its socket, Sally moved on to the long gash down his face.  
  
"What would you have done if it were someone else's boxers?" asked Wufei, grinning.  
  
"Take off your shirt."  
  
"Nande k'so?!" Wufei sweatdropped, not prepared for that answer.  
  
"I said," sighed Sally, "take off your shirt. I can't bandage it up with that shredded shirt on."  
  
Wufei chuckled. "Only if you take yours off."  
  
"NANI YO?!" Sally smacked him upside the head, where she was sure there were no injuries.  
  
"Hey!! I'm just kidding!"  
  
Sally raised an eyebrow. "First you admit you have faults, and now you're cracking jokes? Who are you, and what have you done with my beloved Chang Wufei?!"  
  
It was Wufei's turn to raise an eybrow. "_Your beloved_ Chang Wufei? What brought this on?"  
  
Sally blushed, and fidgeted with the gauze in her hands. "Eh..."  
  
Wufei chuckled. "Can't say it's not pleasing to hear...."  
  
Sally's eyes got large as dinner plates. "You....you feel the same way?!"  
  
"Didn't the kiss tell you that?" Wufei said, another real smile creeping up on his face. "It just took us awhile to figure that out, but doesn't it feel nice to get it out in the open?"  
  
Sally nodded, blinking back more tears. These tears, however, were tears of joy, and she let them fall down her cheeks.  
  
At that moment, they could hear the rain slowly stop pouring, turning into the sound of trickling water, falling out of the gutter. The clock struck 4, and through the separating clouds, a full moon apeared.  
  
They both started to glow in the silver moonlight, and Wufei pulled Sally's arm lightly, making them both tip onto their sides on the couch.   
  
'Mmm...comfy....' Sally thought to herself as Wufei put on arm around her neck.  
  
"I love you, Wufei," Sally whispered, her eyes slowly drifting shut, her head on his chest.  
  
"I love you, too, Sally," he whispered back.  
  
  
~Owari~  
  
Ah!! My first attempt at straight Gundam fic!! I think it was rather good, acutally....for a first attempt, at least. Many many **_many_** thanks to Mars for beta-reading this!! Mars, you're really wonderful, and I admire all of your work!! We really should co-write something soon.....I'd like that much. ^_^  
  
I don't have much else to say. (Shocking? I think so....) Thanks to Robert Fulghum, for the book in which I found the quote, which then inspired me to write this fic. Thanks to Emmy-chan, who also pre-read this fic, and enjoyed it enough to read it sneaky-like in English! (Which is hard, believe me....the teacher has eyes like a hawk, really, she does.....) Arigato gozaimasu to everyone who read this fic! I appreciate it! Reviews aren't manditory....just knowing people are reading it is good enough for me! ^__^  
  
Disclaimer: I know you've heard this all before. Gundam Wing is not mine. Don't sue me. I spent all of my money on subtitled Rayearth videos and How To Draw Manga books. And my manga drawing isn't any better. So...that just shows ya something. ^^;;  
  
  
Sincerely,  
AngelAnne


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